NOVEMBER 20, 1924
THE PREVENTION OF FIRE IN AIRSHIPS
COMMANDER F. L. M. BOOTHBY, whose name is well known
to our readers in connection with Airship design, has expressed
the following interesting views in a letter to the Press, dealing
with the very important point of the prevention of fire in
airships. He says the great danger from petrol fumes has
been overcome by the adoption of an engine consuming
heavy fuel in conjunction with hydrogen. There remains
the danger of fire to gas. This may arise from lightning,
spontaneous combustion of oil rags left near the gas-bags,
smoking in unauthorised places, etc. That the danger is
real enough is shown by the following letter received by
Commander Boothby from Major Stelling, the German pilot
who carried out the trials of the first British Naval airship
to be commissioned when she was purchased from the Parseval
Company by the Admiralty before the War :—
" Dear Boothby,—In reply to your letter of September 25,
I inform you that as far as I can remember the following ships
are burnt:—The Navy airships L.2, L.10, S.L.8, and P.L.26.
L.10 and S.L.8 were destroyed by lightning—L.10 over the
North Sea 1915, S.L.8 over the Baltic 1917. L.2 was burnt
during the trials in Johannisthal before the War. The fire
was caused by inflammation of hydrogen, which poured
from the valves into the engine car. P.L.26 was burnt in
the shed at Bitterfeld, 1915. A big accident occurred 1917
in Ahlhorn, where four airships and four sheds were destroyed
by explosion of hydrogen.—Your sincerely, A. STELLING."
In this country we lost N.S.ll, struck by lightning, C.ll
through a fire over the Humber, and S.S.I from a collision
with telegraph wires.
There is a simple method of dealing with this trouble,
which is to exclude the oxygen of the air from the neighbour-
<5> <8>
Air Ministers' Secretaries
THE Right Hon. Sir Samuel Hoare, Bart., C.M.G., M.P.,
Secretary of State for Air, has appointed Mr. C. L. L. Bullock
to be his principal private secretary, and Flight-Lieut. G. W.
Dobson and Mr. Paul E. Paget (unpaid) to be his assistant
private secretaries. He has further appointed Sir Geoffrey
Butler, K.B.E., M.P., to be his Parliamentary private
secretary (unpaid).
Sir Philip Sassoon, Bart., G.B.E., C.M.G., M.P., Under-
Secretary of State for Air, has appointed Mr. P. J. Oldfield
to be his private secretary.
Amsterdam- Batavia Flight
THE " Flying Dutchmen," led by M. van der Hoop,
who are flying from Amsterdam to Batavia (Java) on a
Fokker monoplane (Rolls-Royce " Eagle IX "), arc now
nearing the end of their journey. On November 12 they
departed from Ambala—which they reached the previous
day—and arrived at Allahabad, having passed over Delhi
en route. They left again next morning and reached Calcutta
in the afternoon. On the 14th they left Dum Dum aero
drome, Calcutta, at 7.15 a.m., and arrived safely at Akyab
at 1.35 p.m. The weather conditions were ideal. On Satur
day morning, November 15, they proceeded to Rangoon.
hood of the hydrogen by inserting a layer of inert gas between
the two. Anyone can test the efficiency of the system by
putting a layer of exhaust gas from his motor-car round a
tin of petrol, and then firing incendiary bullets or Verey lights
into it. Our authorities do not seem to be alive to this danger
of fire in the new passenger ship ordered.
In the White Paper giving such details of the contract as
are available, some 15 tons more weight is allowed for the
hull structure than would be required by experienced designers,
but no compensating advantage of gas protection is mentioned.
There is ample time to arrange for this, as the delivery date
of the airship is September, 1927 (the Germans assembled
their large ships in ten weeks during the War), and the neces
sary provision could be made for the addition of gas-armour
in the next Air Estimates. If this is done the programme
begun under the auspices of the late Air-Commodore Maitland
will be completed, though four years later than would have
been the case had not the old airship service been destroyed.
This programme started with perfecting the mooring mast,
so as to allow airships to operate in any weather ; to abolish
the use of petrol, and cheapen cost of running, so that com
mercial air lines could operate without a subsidy. The final
stage was so to protect the gasbags that an airship could be
struck by lightning again and again without catching fire.
Given this, the new generation of airship officers, who must
shortly arise, will have an implement to their hand suitable
for welding the Empire.
The building of commercial airships which are not rendered
as safe as possible in every way is a waste of money, as the
public will not travel by them, except by way of an adventure,
and the air line will not pay.
<$> <$>
Arriving there, they found the racecourse crowded and a
race in progress, and after circling round several times at a
low altitude, they finally made for a spot about 7 miles away,
where they landed. The following morning they com
pleted the somewhat tricky section from Rangoon to Bangkok.
Zeppelin Works for Spain
IT is reported that an agreement has recently been made
between the Zeppelin Co. and the Compana Transaera Espanola
whereby the greater part of the Zeppelin works at Friedrichs-
hafen will be transferred to Seville, where Zeppelin airships
will be constructed. Four ships, it is said, of 130,000 cu. m.
are to be started on at the earliest opportunity.
Successful Trials of " E.E.C. " Flying Boat
TRIALS were carried out on November 13 at Lytham
with a new flying boat built by the English Electric Co.,
Preston, for the Air Ministry. It was piloted by Major
W. G. Brackley, D.S.O., who, after the machine was success
fully launched, took the machine up to 1,400 ft., with a
load, including a crew of three, of 14,200 lbs. It took off
easily within 25 sees., and attained a speed of about 95 knots.
This flying boat, which is, we believe, called the ", Kings
ton," is fitted with two Napier " Lion " engines.
<•> <$> <•> <$>
PEACETIME PRODUCTION : A view inside the Fokker works at Amsterdam, showing a batch of Fokker
D.XIII single-seater chasers. These machines, a specimen of which will be exhibited at the Paris Aero Show,
are fitted with Napier "Lion " engines.
735